12-Hour Catch Up: Search For Missing In Tapovan Tunnel, China Bans BBC After UK Blocks CGTN

Following a rise in their water levels in the Dhauliganga river on Thursday the rescue operations were temporarily halted.

AFP

On the other hand, two more bodies were recovered on Thursday, taking the total to 36. Nearly 200 people have gone missing after the deluge in the region on Sunday morning.

China Bans BBC News Broadcasts After UK Regulator Revoked CGTN's License

China has banned BBC World News from airing in China, one week after threatening to retaliate for the revocation of the British broadcasting license for China's state-owned CGTN.

BBC

The National Radio and Television Administration said in a statement dated midnight Friday that BBC World News coverage of China had violated requirements that news reporting be true and impartial and undermined China's national interests and ethnic solidarity.

Twitter Complies With Government Request, Has Blocks 97% Handles

There were signs of a thaw in Twitter¡¯s tussle with the government after the social media giant took down over 97% of the handles that the IT ministry had sought to be censured.

Reuters

Of the 1,435 handles flagged by the government through two separate requests, 1,398 have been taken down.

Covid Claims 100,000 Lives In The Middle East

A total of 100,000 people have died in the Middle East after contracting Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in December 2019.

afp

In all, 4,991,770 people in the region have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

AstraZeneca Is Working With Oxford On New Jab That Works Against Variants

AstraZeneca said on Thursday it expects to have a new version of its Covid vaccine ready for use by this autumn as drugmakers respond to concerns about emerging variants of the virus that may be resistant to existing vaccines. The firm said it has been working with Oxford university¡¯s scientists to adapt the shot.

Reuters

¡°We¡¯ve got a number of variant versions in the works that we¡¯ll be picking from,¡± an Astra scientist said.

ISIS Could Gegain Capacity To Orchestrate Attacks In 2021, Warns UN Official

The threat posed by ISIS to international peace and security is on the rise again and the terror group could regain the capacity to orchestrate attacks in different parts of the world in 2021, the UN counter-terrorism chief has warned the Security Council.

AFP/ FILE

In a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov cautioned that the world must be prepared to disrupt such new attacks.